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Black Panthers drop AAAA softball final

TURBOTVILLE – Rain dampened the last week of Milton softball’s season as the Black Panthers lost to Shikel­lamy, 3-1, in the District 4 AAAA finals at Moser Complex Thurs­day afternoon. The game originally scheduled for Wednes­day was moved to Thursday after rain swamped the field.

It looked like a pitcher’s duel between Milton senior ace Kylie Brouse and Shikellamy senior ace Baylee Leeser early. Brouse gave up a leadoff single on the first pitch and had three strikeouts, two groundouts, and a pop fly through the first innings.

That dual quickly turned to Shikellamy’s favor when the Braves scored three runs to start the third inning.

Leeser led off with a deep shot to left center just out of the reach of Chloe Perrin. Leeser took second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on the next pitch when Kayleigh Lenner doubled past third base. Jenna Tasker followed with a single to score Lenner and did not stop running as the ball was thrown home, Tasker stood on third for Shelby Folk to later single and drive in Tasker for the third run.

“We had one bad inning defensively,” Milton coach Bill Keefer said. “Other than that they played a good game today.”

A few defensive plays by Shikel­lamy got to the best of Milton as the Black Panthers pressured on Shik with runners on base, but did not advance them.

“They hit the ball pretty good, unfortunately (Shikel­lamy) just made every play.” Keefer said.

The first inning saw runners on second and third with one out, Leighton Chappell grounded out and Chloe Perrin swung just under the ball for a strike out. Milton struck again in the fourth looking for momentum as Perrin singled past second, stole second and moved to third after Amanda Arnold struck out and Emily Snyder grounded to second. Perrin looked to have a scoring chance, but Taylor Wolfe’s line drive went straight to short.

Milton’s run came in the bottom of the fifth when Saige Graham walked and moved to third on a passed ball and ground out by Hayley Aunkst, Taylor Gessner later hit a single to score Graham.

“We played our hearts out, we should have stepped it up from the beginning instead of trying to battle back,” Brouse said after receiving her district medal.

The game switched back to a pitcher’s duel between Leeser who was trying to preserve the lead, and Brouse looking to keep Shikellamy within striking distance for Milton’s offense.

“I wanted to push the girls all game, the team is very important to me,” Brouse later said referencing her acrobatic dive to catch a bunt attempt. “I wanted to win, so I put everything on the line at that moment.”

Milton finished the season 19-2 while Shikellamy won its first district medal in 12 years, and earned a state playoff game next Monday as Lesser induced two pop flies and a strikeout to end the game.

“The kind of year they had, I’m proud of their achievements this year.” Keefer said.

Shikellamy 003 000 0 – 3 8 1

Milton 000 010 0 – 1 4 0

Baylee Leeser and Kaitlyn Harmon. Kylie Brouse and Leighton Chappell. W – Baylee Leeser. L – Kylie Brouse.

Top Shikellamy Hitters: Kayleigh Lenner 2-4 1 run 1 RBI, Jenna Tasker 1-3 1 run 1 RBI. Top Milton hitters: Taylor Gessner 2-3 1 RBI, Saige Graham 0-2 walk 1 run.

Records: Milton (19-2), Shikellamy (14-8).

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